| Intention and Surrender | 'Dyad' | |
| At its core the Enlightenment Intensive approaches contemplation with a balance of intention and surrender. The participant intends to have an enlightenment experience, though ultimately accepts that having invested sufficient right effort, such an experience cannot be forced. The participants place themselves in the best position to receive such an experience, and then surrender, understanding that realisation occurs in a moment of complete openness, when effort ceases. This is a logical approach, which when examined more closely, reveals a functional pattern that is evident throughout lifes journey. One engages life fully, though remains detached from outcomes, and in turn remains free from suffering. In enlightenment terms both intention and surrender are necessary in order to realise the non-dual state. | ||
| Intention | ||
| It is widely acknowledged that what we feed energy to grows. If we feed energy into reinforcing our identity within a worldly context then our concerns are always on worldly issues and our experience of life maintains a more surface characteristic, whereas if we focus our attention on cultivating a richer inner world then our capacity to remain established in that particular facet of reality is strengthened and our experience of life trawls deeper. Initially intention requires some effort. There has to be some clarity over what one is intending to do, and one has to make a decision to follow through where possible. This is commitment, and as one becomes more established in this commitment then effort becomes less due to the base line reality having shifted toward an overall orientation around the intention. For the duration of an Enlightenment Intensive there is only one intention, and all focus is directed toward this end; enlightenment. | ||
| Surrender | ||
| In this context surrender could be seen as being completely open, or Being with absence of effort. Being completely open is a state where there are no contractions, no refusal to accept, nor tendancy to hold on. There is no longer any grasping or rejecting, nor is there any need to control in order to have preferences met or self identifications reinforced. There is an emptiness of Being. It is like a bottomless vessel through which life pours. The vessel is fully present engaging with life in the moment, though remains perpetually empty of content, always open, always empty, and consequently always free. In this surrendered state, a natural authenticity of Being dawns. | ||